Oedipus Rex Tragic
...the king, and married his own mother. The blind prophet Teiresias speaks the words in this excerpt at the point in the play when he is asked to divine who has offended the gods by killing the former king
Oedipus is a victim of destiny, gods, and his own fault. Destiny gave him his downfall in Oedipus Rex. His hubris made him think he could defy the fate by running away from Corinth. After learning that Polybos and Merope were not his real parents. The gods punished him for his hubris. The prophecies tore him apart because they caused him to search for the truth of the murder of Laios. YetÂ…the oracle is the word of the gods.
"How dreadful of the truth can be! when there's no help in truth!
Oedipus has a "tragic flaw" that leads to his demise, and efforts to attribute one to him to him seem forced . In his quest to uncover the truth and rid Thebes of the plague, he exhibits all the heroic qualities that made him the savior of Thebes during the Sphinx's reign of terror. Oedipus as a victim of a fate he could not control. He had enormous control over the events of his "destiny" through the numerous decisions he makes. He chooses to believe the oracle and leave Corinth. (The play is in fact a comment on the role of oracles and religion in the climate of the intellectual revolution going on in 5th century Athens.) He chooses to kill Laius. He chooses to marry Jocasta. He chooses to forcefully and very publicly assume the mission of discovering the identity of Laius' killer. He proceeds on this mission and chooses to ignore the warnings of Creon, Jocasta, the messenger, the shepherd, of anyone that attempts to stand between him and the truth. And he chooses to blind himself (this is in fact a conscious act on his part to choose something on his own, an act that Apollo cannot be held responsible for.) If Oedipus was indeed a powerless pawn of fate, the play would be...
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